David Farragut

David Glasgow Farragut (5 July 1801-14 August 1870) was an admiral of the US Navy during the American Civil War, the first man in the US Navy to hold the rank of Rear Admiral, Vice Admiral, or Admiral.

Biography
David Glasgow Farragut was born in Campbell's Station, Tennessee in 1801, the son of admiral George Farragut (from Spain) and his Scots-Irish wife Elizabeth Shine. Farragut's family moved to New Orleans, Louisiana while he was young, and he joined the US Navy as a midshipman in 1810 at the young age of nine. Farragut fought in the War of 1812 as a child, and he took part in an expedition to the Marquesas Islands in Polynesia from October 1813 to 1814, battling hostile natives and their British allies. In 1822, he was promoted to lieutenant during actions against pirates in the Caribbean, and he rose to the rank of Commander during the Mexican-American War. Farragut served under Matthew Perry during the blockade of Tuxpan, and he created the Mare Island Navy Yard near San Francisco, California in 1858. On 3 February 1862, he was given command of the Gulf of Mexico blockading squadron, and he took part in the capture of Port Hudson, Vicksburg, and the battle for Mobile Bay, three major battles of the war. At Mobile Bay, he famously said, "Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!" In 1866, he became the first full admiral in the US Navy, and he died while on vacation in Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 1870 at the age of 69.